


we'll see

by shoulders



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Christmas Party, Getting Together, Gift Giving, M/M, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 09:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17139335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoulders/pseuds/shoulders
Summary: seungcheol and wonwoo clearly have something, but just need a push





	we'll see

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JafiaJen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JafiaJen/gifts).



> thanks for organizing this exchange, svt ss mods! thanks for giving me some time after the due date to get this done. i've never written or even really thought about this pairing, but my lovely roommate helped me come up with the basic plot and i had fun with it. i hope u enjoy it!

“Okay, guess I’m hosting.” Minghao says, drawing the shortest straw out of the group sitting in a cluster of tables by the window in the small cafe he and Mingyu worked at.

“Aw man, but you always give the best Secret Santa gifts!” Soonyoung whines over the Michael Bublé Christmas album playing slightly too loudly in the background.

“You’ll all get the gift of being in my apartment and eating my cooking. That means Soonyoung has to take my place and go all out on a present this year.”

“With a $20 limit?” Wonwoo asks from the window seat, leaning against a pile of throw pillows with Seungcheol.

“It’s possible if you look around enough.” Chan says, leaning back towards the window seat to grab a pillow with a snowman on it. “I think Minghao just goes over budget every time,” he adds, hugging the pillow to his chest.

“Is it my fault if I have an eye for good presents?” Minghao jokes as he stands up to find the notebook Mingyu left behind the counter.

“Are you guys okay with doing gag gifts this year? Those shouldn’t be hard to find for $20.” Seokmin asks the group.

“Yeah, now that Minghao can’t show us up that should be fine.” Mingyu smiles, waving towards the counter where Minghao is writing everyone’s names on slips of paper.

“So we’re good to get stupid gifts then? Awesome. Get ready, whoever’s name I get.” Jun smiles. “What kinds of stuff are we thinking? Embarrassing, silly, gross, what’s gonna be best?”

“Whoever gets Wonwoo, just go throw a dart in a Hot Topic and buy whatever you hit.” Soonyoung laughs.

“Do the same in Claire’s for Jeonghan.” Joshua suggests, earning a slap on the arm from his table-mate.

“Icing by Claire’s, thank you very much.” Jeonghan says with an over-dramatically faux-dignified air before breaking into a grin.

As he gathers the slips with everyone’s names, Minghao looks across the cafe at his friends having fun and focuses on Seungcheol and Wonwoo in the window seat. The two of them are shared a joke that he couldn’t catch, but he watched as they laughed together, Wonwoo lightly shoving Seungcheol’s shoulder before leaning against his side, a faint dusting of pink across both of their cheeks.

Minghao takes in the image of Seungcheol and Wonwoo leaning into each other, silhouetted by the Christmas lights around the window and the wreath hanging on the outside, both of them looking content in their own bubble. He ignores the bowl that he was going to put the papers in, instead opting to hold them in his hands. He holds onto Wonwoo’s name between two fingers in his left hand, Seungcheol’s in his right, and gathers the rest of the slips of paper loose.

“Okay guys, draw your names.”

“Okay guys,” he says, tossing the folded-up names in his cupped hands, “draw your names.”

Everyone chooses a name, and Vernon has to re-draw after pulling his own. Only a few of them have a dramatic reaction to their chosen person, and most just nod and continue discussing the rules for the exchange. Seungcheol and Wonwoo’s window is his last stop, and he managed to keep their names tucked away from the rest of the group. Minghao separates his hands and holds the Wonwoo hand out to Seungcheol and vice versa.

Both Seungcheol and Wonwoo nod and put their slips in their pockets and glance at each other in their best approximation of nonchalance, neither noticing the other but Minghao noticing both.

“So 2 weeks?” Vernon asks without looking up from his phone.

“Yeah, I’ll have the place ready by like 6.”

“I can come early and help, if you want.” Seokmin offers.

Mingyu stands up from his chair, stretches, and re-ties his apron. “I can, too. I might have off work then anyway.”

“As long as you actually help with something, sure.”

“When am I not helpful?” Mingyu says with a smile. “Anyway, we should probably get back to work.”

Minghao and Mingyu wave to the group after listening to Seungkwan lay out the specifics about this years’ Secret Santa. (“$20 max, and get gag gifts, nothing too heartfelt.”) The two head back behind the counter of the cafe as a couple of customers shuffle in to escape the cold. Minghao whips together a caramel macchiato while Mingyu navigates the syrup bottles for a very complicated drink Minghao left for him to do.

“So, do you want to know who I got this year?” Mingyu asks as he puts a lid on the sugary slurry ordered by a sleep-deprived and appreciative college student.

“Sure, but I don’t want to help you figure out what to get them. I got this year off.” Minghao says after calling the name scribbled on the cup of a caramel macchiato.

“Damn, never mind then.” Mingyu says, defeated, wiping down the counter where some syrup dripped. Minghao folds his arms on the counter and rests his chin on them, peering back over at their group of friends, some of whom had started bundling back up to brave the cold outside. He raises a hand to wave to the few that leave before dropping his voice to address Mingyu.

“Do you know if there’s anything going on with Cheol and Wonwoo?”

“I don’t, but I was wondering if it was just me that caught that vibe.” Mingyu replies. He grabs the edge of the counter and leans down and backwards to stretch. Minghao makes a face at the cracks and pops before continuing.

“Well, maybe we’ll see if anything happens soon enough.”

Mingyu makes a small noise of interest, lifting his head to look at his friend quizzically. Minghao glances over at him before returning his gaze to the cluster of tables by the window seat still occupied by a handful of their group, including the two in question.

“I made sure they pulled each other’s names. So, hopefully we’ll see.”

Mingyu drops his head back down and snorts.

“Yeah, because I’m sure Seungcheol will be able to come up with a gag gift that will win his heart.”

* * *

Soonyoung has a leg swung over the arm of a lumpy chair in Wonwoo and Jun’s living room as he stares across the coffee table at Wonwoo on his phone.

“I hope you’re looking up gift ideas, because I need some for Seungkwan.”

Wonwoo continues fiddling with the game he’s playing. “You aren’t supposed to tell me who you have, you know.”

“Well, “ Soonyoung rearranges himself and sits upright in the garish floral armchair, “now that you know who I have, you can help me think of something.”

“The exchange is in 2 days, just go to the dollar store and find a toy and a ‘Happy 1st Birthday’ card or something.”

“That’s so uninspired, though. What did you get for your person? Or, wait, don’t tell me if it’s for me.”

Wonwoo lowers his phone and lifts his gaze to Soonyoung, who has begun to pick at the oversized upholstery buttons on the arm of his chair.

“Shouldn’t everyone’s gifts be a secret, isn’t that the point of a Secret Santa exchange?”

“You do have me!”

“No, I just haven’t bought anything yet.”

Soonyoung groans a bit. “Now that you know who I have, who are you responsible for?”

“Seungcheol.” Wonwoo locks his phone and sets it on the table between them, looking up but still avoiding Soonyoung’s eyes.

“Oh, he’d like anything you got him. Pick whatever.”

Wonwoo raises an eyebrow at his unhelpful response.

“Sorry, was I not helpful? Just go to the dollar store and find a toy and-”

“I get it, sorry.” Wonwoo chuckles and Soonyoung cracks and easy grin.

“No, but really, you could give him literally anything and he’d like it, just try to make it fun.”

Wonwoo looks down at the coffee table and thinks for a second, humming.

“I see. Okay. Well, the same goes for Seungkwan. You guys are like the same person most of the time. Find him something you’d like to get.”

“That’s the problem! We’re too similar with stuff like this, I need an outsider’s opinion.”

The two of them brainstorm silly gift ideas, Soonyoung shooting down most of them for one reason or another. After a bit, the conversation stats to become more one-sided as Wonwoo keeps returning to the thought Seungcheol would like anything he got him. He’s not that easy to please, is it the holiday spirit?

Or is it because it would be from Wonwoo?

He shakes his head a bit and returns to just listening to Soonyoung brainstorm and subsequently reject every fun idea he comes up with.

* * *

Seungcheol has been wandering the aisles of the small bookstore near their usual cafe for a solid 20 minutes. He’s not a big reader, but he knows Wonwoo is. Definitely having forgotten the original theme of this exchange, he opts instead for a (hopefully) more personal gift. He wants to get something that Wonwoo will enjoy, not laugh at for 5 seconds and forget about.

The draft under the front door makes Seungcheol’s nose cold, and the smell of books is almost overpowering in some parts of this tiny building. Wonwoo of course only mentions books that he’s already read, not ones that he’s interested in reading. Seungcheol is out of his element, and goes to begin another circuit of the handful of small aisles of novels when he spots one of the only books he was ever forced to read for school and enjoyed.

There’s some sense of relief in his chest as he pulls this book off of the shelf, and maybe a little bit of hope. This could be a good present, maybe Wonwoo would also like this book and they could have something new to talk about. Maybe he would pick up on the little bit of sentimentality behind this gift, behind the gag aspect of giving a 22 year old a book meant for middle school kids.

There was a sneaking worry that Wonwoo had already read this book, or worse, read it and disliked it, but Seungcheol tried his best to ignore that. If that were the case, he could pass it off as a joke, and if that wasn’t the case, then there was a chance that the two of them would have something else to bond over and talk about. Seungcheol also tried his best to ignore the very tiny swoop in his chest at this thought.

* * *

“Oh my god,” Seungkwan pulled a wad of synthetic hair out of a gift bag, “you’ve gotta be kidding.” He added when he noticed the elastic strap around the back of this wad, holding the whole thing together. “Did you get me a fake beard?”

“I panicked on what a gag gift was supposed to be. Merry Christmas!”

Soonyoung tore into the wrapping paper on the box marked for him and uncovered another wad of hair, this time sealed in a plastic sleeve.

“Did you both get each other fake beards as gag gifts?”

Soonyoung was already tearing open the packaging and snapping the elastic of his new fake gray beard around his head.

“It seems like it. Great minds, you know.”

“I might not want to know, but I’ll still ask. Why was mine just loose in a bag?” Seungkwan asked, putting the hair piece gingerly on Minghao’s coffee table, out of the way of the array of red plastic cups that were slowly filling up this surface.

“I already told you, I panicked. I found it on the back of a shelf in Walmart, didn’t see any more of them anywhere, so I just took it. Look though, I even Lysoled it for you for immediate wear, so it’s fine.”

Seungkwan laughed. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have asked, but I’m glad you told me. I’m not putting it on.”

“God,” Minghao said leaning on the doorway to the kitchen to keep an eye on the stove and still see the gift exchange. “Someone else go.”

“Cheol, why don’t you go next.” Jeonghan suggested from his seat on the floor, wearing his new feather halo and choker with “ANGEL” in large rhinestones from Seokmin. (‘This is a terrible gag gift because I wear these normally.”)

Seungcheol reached under Minghao’s small Christmas tree for the flat, slightly heavy box with his name on the tag. Wonwoo fidgets in his seat slightly, hoping Seungcheol won’t notice.

Thankfully, he doesn’t, because his full attention is on the framed collage of pictures of their whole friend group that he unwraps. Most of them are silly candids of everyone, but there are selfies, (a lot of Jun), and group shots from the handful of day trips they’ve taken (split between 3 cars), but Seungcheol doesn’t miss that there are noticeably more pictures of him and Wonwoo. There’s a candid shot of them from shopping trips with Mingyu, from across a table at a group dinner, and some selfies Seungcheol took of them before Wonwoo was ready to pose. Near the middle of the collage is one of the few selfies Wonwoo took of the two of them from their high school graduation, and it’s also the only picture here with Wonwoo fully beaming. Seungcheol points to this picture.

“That’s a really nice one.” He passes the picture frame over to Vernon to so their friends can see.

“I hope I put enough stupid pictures to qualify it as a joke gift.” Wonwoo said to Cheol as their friends laughed at some of the pictures and reminisced about past trips and outings.

“It’s perfect, I love it.” Seungcheol said, smiling, making eye contact with him for a moment before darting back over to the tree. “Do you want to go next? I’ll go grab yours.”

Seungcheol reaches down to grab a small gift wrapped in metallic blue paper with Wonwoo’s name written on it in marker. He hands it to him and flops back down on the couch next to him.

“Hmmmm, I wonder who it’s from?” He asks no one in particular, but still quietly enough to hide how badly he feigns ignorance.

Wonwoo smirks in his direction before unwrapping a novel that he recognizes from a bad movie that came out a few years ago and that everyone but him seemed to be obsessed with in middle school. Before he can react or say anything about it, Seungcheol sits up again and starts explaining the gift.

“Uh, so, that’s from me. I thought a middle school book might be a joke because you’re obviously on a higher reading level than that now, and it’s the movie poster version and that movie sucked I still can’t believe Rick Riordan let that happen, but anyway, I don’t know if you’ve read it or not but I thought a book would be an ok gift and I still have the receipt if you don’t like it or already have it or something-”

Seungcheol is clearly rambling, and Wonwoo finds it very sweet, so he moves his hand on top of Cheol’s on the couch cushions between them. Seungcheol jolts a little bit, but he does stop talking. Their friends are only half paying attention to them, still looking over Wonwoo’s gift to Seungcheol.

“Didn’t you like this book?” Wonwoo asks him, flipping through the pages.

“Yeah. I still do, to be honest.” Seungcheol shrugs, looking sheepish. “I haven’t had a lot of time to read much past middle school, but I’ve still re-read this one a few times.”

Wonwoo smiles at him and squeezes his hand. He holds onto it for a few seconds, and Seungcheol squeezes back shyly before Wonwoo lets go and flips through to the end of the book.

“Oh, it’s only 377 pages. I can probably finish that by tomorrow. We can talk about it then.” He reaches for Seungcheol’s hand again, keeping it slightly hidden behind a small pile of wrapping paper between them.

“Really? You don’t have to, but if you do, there’s 4 other books in the series if you’re interested in them at all, you could borrow mine whenever you want.” Seungcheol begins excitedly talking to him about this possible new bonding opportunity as the party continues on around them, everyone laughing as Jun opens a glittery heart picture frame with a photo of himself in it.

Minghao returns to the kitchen door frame as Seokmin and Mingyu unload trays of cookies from the oven onto Christmas plates and set up bowls of frosting and decorating tools. Wonwoo and Seungcheol’s hands may be obscured to their friends in the living room, but Minghao notices right away.

“Hey, Mingyu, something happened.”

Mingyu leaves Seokmin to lay out cookies by himself for a second to walk over and look where Minghao is gesturing with his cup of wine. He pauses and smiles before nudging Minghao’s arm and walking back over to join Seokmin at the counter.

“I guess we did see, then.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Seokmin asks, biting off an arm of a malformed gingerbread person.

Minghao shakes his head and hides a smug smile into his drink.

“Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

**Author's Note:**

> everything i write is self indulgent hence minghao's big role in a non-minghao-centric fic, soonyoungs choice of gift (actually something i gave a friend one year in a similar event), and the fact that cheol got wonwoo a percy jackson book in a gag gift exchange


End file.
